


Between Hoth and Heaven

by Seasider



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: (not graphic), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Father-Son Relationship, FebuWhump2021, Gen, Major Character Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-14 00:21:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29162592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seasider/pseuds/Seasider
Summary: In the frozen wasteland of Hoth, a wounded child lies dying...until hope arrives in an unexpected form.
Relationships: Luke Skywalker & Darth Vader
Comments: 19
Kudos: 87





	Between Hoth and Heaven

**Author's Note:**

> Because sometimes the revelation can be quiet.

He was warm.

It was a miracle, the first time he’d felt warmth on this ice block of a planet. It was beautiful, white and smooth like Tatooine. But so cold.

His hands were warm. Even through the heavy gloves, he could feel the warmth as his fingers lay clasped across his belly. The sky was sort of a gray-blue, not clear but the clouds were so high and heavy that it looked clear. Maybe he could see a sun if he squinted. But his eyes couldn’t focus.

The warmth was spreading around his back. Was the snow melting? Was there spring on Hoth, was it coming now? Would he see it? Would he live long enough to see grass, to see flowers blooming. He wanted to stand and look around, but he had no legs. They were...somewhere. Gone.

His face was cold. Freezing. He seemed to be sinking into the snow. Maybe he was drowning as it melted. Maybe it would turn into an ocean and he would float away. 

Shade covered him, like night had arrived without warning. A shadow. Like a big sail that was guiding a boat on the dunes. He squinted in the darkness, struggling to see. Curious. But his vision was clouded, like his eyes were full of water that had frozen.

“You finally got me,” he said, but his voice didn’t sound like it usually did. It was thick. Heavy. Strange.

“Yes.” The shadow grew closer, blotting out all hope of seeing the sky. “I have you now.”

“I ran a long time.” He coughed and tasted copper on his tongue. “You chased me.”

“Yes.”

“Why?” Something black pressed on his hands, pressed hard, pushed cold against his belly, and he cried out. It hurt! For the first time, it hurt. “Too bad… found me too late.”

“It’s not too late,” the voice said harshly, an order that forbade him to disagree. “I will not let you go now.”

The shadow moved and suddenly the light was there, too bright. He closed his eyes. “Yes…. I won.”

“No. I will not let you go, Luke.”

_ Luke. _ That was his name. The shadow shouldn’t say it. But the shadow had followed him for so long. Every time he turned around, there it was. His Shadow. “Please….”

The shadow embraced him, transporting him. He was flying, up high into the sky. “I won’t leave you,” his shadow said. “I’ve got to save you.”

“Save me…?” He couldn’t see. “Why….” There was metal, so cold. But something soft shrouded him. Something that had a steady sound like a heartbeat. Like he was in a womb, protected, warmed. Almost too warm now.

“You are my son.”

He didn’t understand. Was this… the spirit world? Was this the Force? Was he here, had he found it? Son?

“Father?”

“Yes, my son. Luke. You will be fine. I will fix you.”

Son?

He rested his face against the cold. Was there warmth beneath it? Was that a heartbeat that he heard? A steady rhythm. Arms around him. Carrying him. He could make out that much.

Father?

Father was a Jedi. Father was...

...Anakin Skywalker.

He drifted on a cloud, floating somewhere between Hoth and Heaven. Was there really a heaven, a place where souls waited for love? Aunt Beru thought there was. Maybe she was there. Maybe she was watching.

_ Son, _ someone whispered, and he thought it was a message from Heaven. From his father.

_ Your father is right here. I’m here to save you. _

Father. Save you....

_ I will make you better than you were. Stronger. Like me. With new legs, new organs that will never decay. You will live forever. We will rule together. You are mine now. _

He was so sleepy. He could escape in sleep. Into the sky. He could stay there. He would never wake up because his father was waiting for him in Heaven. “Fa….”

_ Stay with me, Luke. I am here, really here. There is no heaven. There is only now. There is reality. And you will stay here with me forever. _

Forever….

_ Rest, son. All you have to do is rest. _

All he had to do….

Wherever he was, his father was with him. Luke let himself rest.


End file.
